


rubbing shoulders

by amarelavita



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Fluff, Fluffy Ending, M/M, Minor Injuries, robron as reluctant festival goers, some classic attempts at banter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 11:46:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15218462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amarelavita/pseuds/amarelavita
Summary: “So do you break people’s noses for fun then or...”“I’m sure your nose isn’t broken, Robert. And no, it’s not something I’d call a hobby of mine.”or, “I broke your nose in a mosh pit, sorry!” au





	rubbing shoulders

**Author's Note:**

> “I broke your nose in a mosh pit, sorry!” au 
> 
> Another attempt from me at writing, I hope you all like badly written fluff!  
> Inspiration taken from this prompts list, http://ass-gardiann.tumblr.com/post/140127226317/au-master-list
> 
> find me on tumblr - @luststricken

Robert hadn’t wanted to come to Wireless Festival. He really and truly hadn’t.

Loud, politically-charged, grime music really wasn’t his scene, stick on a bit of Fleetwood Mac however, and he’d be down. He’d been roped in by some uni mates to travel down to the festival, much to his disinterest, with claims that they’d all have the best time ever. All Robert was concerned about was the lack of personal space and the banging head he’d have for the next ten years thanks to the rumbling bass and rowdy lads around him in the crowd. He wasn’t opposed to a party and having a good time, but standing in a muddy field in the dark surrounded by sweaty teenagers really wasn’t his thing.

Therefore he had no idea how he’d ended up in a bloody mosh pit of all places. One minute he’d been standing with his mates, the next, he’d been almost swallowed up by the crowd with an absurd amount of men going berserk over the artist on stage. It was safe to say this was his idea of hell. He was abruptly knocked out of his internal cursings quite literally, as another bloke’s hefty shoulder expertly collided with his nose. The crack definitely couldn’t be mistaken for anything related to the music onstage. And he definitely wasn’t crying either, the force had just made his eyes water. A lot.

“Oh my god, mate, I’m so sorry!” could be made out amongst the loud music blaring out, from the thug in question Robert supposed.

Due to his lack of response, thanks to the shock more than anything, the other man helped him out of the immediate crowd, he then realised they were heading towards the medical tent. Robert wasn’t limping, nor about to pass out, but he couldn’t deny he needed the help to escape the hordes of people faster. Robert finally uncupped his hand from around his nose when they were out of the thick of the crowd and the scarlet liquid he saw in return wasn’t terribly reassuring.

“Shit.” he breathed out.

That had caught the other man’s attention. He looked around from where he was in front of Robert, making a path for him as they moved. He attempted to hide his worried expression when he saw the dripping blood, Robert appreciated it, but it had faltered about three seconds in.

“It’s alright…” he paused expectantly, instead of asking directly for a name.

“Robert.”

“You’ll be fine Robert, I promise it looks worse than it is. My name’s Aaron by the way.”

It’s a good job Robert wasn’t a fan of his looks then. Great. If his nose looked worse than it felt then his ego definitely hurt the most right now. He was currently looking debatably his worst in front of a better-than-average looking man who had the decency to make sure he was alright, maybe he wasn’t one of the stereotypical festival-going lads that Robert had defined the crowd as.

They were now out into an emptier area of the festival grounds, where the people keen on an early exit and not being aggressively shoved resided, the dry grass discoloured and littered with plastic pint glasses and greasy cardboard dishes.

“So do you break people’s noses for fun then or...”

“I’m sure your nose isn’t _broken_ , Robert. And no, it’s not something I’d call a hobby of mine.” Aaron teased back. Witty too? Robert was definitely moving the laddish label further away from him, well, temporarily at least.

“So what are you here for? And don’t say the music because I might have to walk myself to the medical tent and I don’t think you’d like the ‘assault and run’ charge that would hit you.”

“Might have to ask you the same question then. I take it you’re not a fan?”

Okay so Robert hadn’t though that one through, and honestly, he wanted to know what had made himself come here too.

“Got roped in by my mates, didn’t I?” He replied.

“Not very good mates then, leaving ya to get into a state like this. Should be thankful I saved you.”

“You were the one who got me into _this state_ to begin with!”

There was no anger beneath their words, and Robert was glad of the playful teasing between them, it took his mind off of the throbbing pain of his nose. Unfortunately though, it hadn’t cleaned the blood. _Or_ convinced him his nose wasn’t broken.

They finally reached the tent, Robert questioning why the bloody medics were so far away from the people who actually needed them, a ridiculous setup he’d called it, and another reason as to why he didn’t like festivals. A medic had ushered him to sit on a poxy plastic chair, the kind every British household has owned at one point or another, the classic cheapy, white, garden sort. He had expected Aaron to leave, go back and find his mates, maybe even enjoy the music that Robert couldn’t believe anyone could like unironically.

“Haven’t you got a festival to get back to?”

“More like patients to attend to,” Aaron had joked back, although it was glaringly obvious to anybody who wasn’t Robert to see that he cared. “Listen, Robert, I’m so sorry about this, I swear I just got pushed and then, yeah, you were the collateral.” Aaron grimaced.

“Begging for my forgiveness now are we?” Robert pushed. Aaron’s face fell slightly, he’d chosen to take this seriously and Robert was just messing around, although it showed he couldn’t have been too badly hurt, he supposed.

“I’m kidding. Cheers for staying with me, better mate than the ones I came with, clearly.”

“Oh so we’re mates now, eh? I might have to shoulder blokes in the nose more often.”

That had ignited Robert’s interest, had felt like asking ‘only blokes?’ But just because he found Aaron attractive didn’t mean it was reciprocated, or even a possibility.

“Well the least we can do is exchange numbers. I could buy you a drink for staying with me, and you could buy me two for almost knocking me out.” Was he pushing it with this? The knock had clearly messed with his head and he couldn’t tell if this was flirting, pushing boundaries or just being a good mate.

“Suppose there’s worse people to buy pints for in the world,” Aaron smiled “I’m seriously sorry though Robert.” He spoke around the medic who had finally come to assess Robert’s fragile nose.

Robert brushed off Aaron’s apology, if it had been anyone else he’d still be pissed, but somehow he didn’t feel anything but curiosity and desire for Aaron. Robert handed Aaron his phone, Aaron tapping his number into Robert’s contacts list and then Robert’s into his own with Robert recalling his number aloud to Aaron, unable to do it himself with the medical attention he was receiving.

“You should get back before you start apologising again, I’m sure there’ll be someone looking for you by now.” Robert had a good attempt to pretending like he didn’t want Aaron to stay with him for the rest of his time in this poky tent.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

“You’ll see, if you get a text about our date then you’ll know I’m more than fine.” Robert really was pushing his luck now. At least he’d know if he had a chance. God, who was he kidding? If things turned sour he’d wallow in self-pity and probably think of his busted nose as a keepsake from the bloke he had momentarily fell for.

“I suppose I will,” Aaron coyly looked away from him and breathed out a laugh, “I’ll see you around Robert.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It turns out that Robert did in fact have a broken nose, and after a bit of a bruised ego and some consequent hours spent in the mirror trying to boost his self-confidence, he rocked up to his and Aaron’s date with a large beige-coloured plaster across his nose.

The promised pints were drunk and they discovered they had way more in common than pushy mates who happened to drag them to festivals, despite Aaron’s likening to the music genre itself.

Robert set a mental note to remember to thank his pushy mates.

Aaron’s incessant apologises were silenced with a parting kiss and the promise of a date the next week – with Robert swearing he’d look less like a botched nose-job patient.


End file.
